Paark Lytt Script

The Paark Lytt learnt writing from the Nœikxu (Neoquux). The old believers, a reclusive minority among the Paark Lytt, continue to pass on the Nœikxu scriptures. They use an archaic form of the script. The majority of the Paark Lytt reject the Nœikxu scriptures. They follow the scriptures of the New Prophecy, which are written in the modern form of the script. While it is generally recognized that the Paark Lytt script originated from the Nœikxu, most literate Paark Lytt would not be able to read the archaic form at all.

With regard to the overview of the script, all phonetic information is in IPA. I hope it is decipherable. The subscript numbers in the transcriptions of the archaic form refer to variant letters. Paark Lytt scholars believe that these originally represented different pronunciations, though the details are disputed.

In the transcriptions of the modern form, the two instances where the consonant length is put between parentheses refer to sounds where length is purely allophonic: They represent long sounds where consonant length is phonotactically possible, and short sounds otherwise. Consonant length is phonotactically possible when there are no adjacent obstruents (stops or fricatives except /h/), with the exception of long /ss/ that can also occur after a stop.

In hindsight, I should have represented all long consonants with the /ː/ sign. This would have been more logical and more consistent with the length representation within the script, where the bar below marks both long consonants and long vowels. The affricates do not have a length distinction because they are like two adjacent obstruents. /l/, /r/, /j/ and /h/ do not have a long counterpart.

Mach adds:
The Paark Lytt language is really Bernese German, so Paark Lytt is only an unusual transcription of Bärglüt, High German Bergleute, 'mountain people'.